Tiff's in training

One of the reasons I bought Tiff is that she's broke to ride and drive. She has a lot more experience with driving than with riding, so I am enlisting the experience and knowledge of Ali, a student at the local university. She has lots of experience training hunter\jumpers, leading trail rides, and giving lessons. While I rode saddleseat growing up, I'm limited in my knowledge of working with horses to get them trail ready. (I'm a little embarassed to say I've only been trail riding a couple of times-most of my experience has been riding around rings and up and down barn aisleways). So, Ali not only agreed to train Tiff once a week, she will also be giving me a few riding lessons.

At any rate (after about an hour of horse fiascos-which is another post), Ali put Tiff through her paces. They walked, trotted, cantered, backed, and pivoted. Tiff was so well behaved and gave her rider 100% effort. Ali had a blast riding her and I can't wait to hop on myself!

Tiffany taking Ali for a ride.

At the auction

Sassy and the frog

Earning Her Keep

After months of watching Sassy sleep, eat, and lounge, I was seriously doubting her willingness to earn her food. But, I was happy (although somewhat grossed out) to find a half of a mouse lying next to her food bowl.

Ever since Twerp passed, she's been out on patrol, climbing the stall walls in the barn, and picking up the slack. Guess this kitty's a keeper!

Driving

We've hitched up Tiffany three times in the last week, and she's been really good. No balking or hissy fits-when she's with the cart, it's all business. She's a little hot to trot starting out, but after a few minutes of trotting figure eights and serpentines, she settles down into a nice, relaxed walk.



Our neighbor came over to help the first two drives I took her out, but Sunday marked a huge milestone for us: Will and I hooked up Tiffany all by ourselves (and it was Will's first time assisting)! It took us a long time because I wanted to be sure everything was snapped, buckled, and hooked up correctly, and we ended up having a lovely drive. Will was great-he stayed around to watch our drive (just in case), and then helped me get her back into the cross ties and unhitched. He even led her back to the field-his first time ever leading horse!

Nothing like a good roll in the dirt after getting brushed...

Not the most flattering picture ;-).

Garden Update

It rained a lot last week-- about two inches over three days. We really needed it-- I'm hoping for a second cutting of hay to fill up the barn for the horses for the winter. Our neighbor said the other day he has no extra hay to sell-there is enough for the horses in the area, and not much else.

In regards to the garden, I moved some of the perennials out of their containers and into the ground. One of the rail planters now holds lettuce seeds and the big porch planters have mums.

One squash plant continues to hold on, and I should get a couple more vegetables off of that. A couple of the watermelons are getting large, and I think one may be ready to pick in the next week! It seems we have two melons per plant.

I have about half a dozen ripe tomatoes that aren't cracked-- it was heartbreaking to go into the garden today and pick dozens of fruits that were cracked and inedible. There are a couple of peppers growing, and the onions haven't seen much growth. Next year I'm trying those in a self-watering container.

The daylilies are about to have a second round of blooms.

Twerp

Twerp was hit by a car on Monday evening. So sad-- he wasn't even a year old. We buried him in the yard next to Taylor. Rest in peace, little kitty...

Walking Stick

This "twig" was stuck to the side of the house last night. I thought it was an odd place for a stick to be, and it seemed really semetrical, so I ran in the house to get Will. After gently blowing on the twig, it moved!

A search on Wikipedia revealed that walking sticks live all over the world and are masters of disguise. Some grow to be 12 inches long! Our little friend was probably about four inches long.

I had never seen a walking stick except on TV, so it was very cool to see one in person. I feel fortunate this one spent some time in the side of our house.

In the cross ties...

On the prowl...

Twerp gets around-you may see him in the fields, in the barn, in the yard. He's always looking for something to catch, which makes us happy when his prey is a mouse or chipmunk.

He also hones his hunting skills on butterflies and grasshoppers.

Stalking a grasshopper...

Sassy is content to nap on the wagon, sprawl in the driveway, and lounge on the deck. I've never seen her hunting mice, but she enjoys playing with rocks and chasing butterflies.



And both cats are very curious about their large neighbors!

Garden Update

The tomatoes continue to ripen, but they are cracking-- ugh! I read that tomatoes crack when there is a drastic change in moisture, so I'm betting our weeks-long dry spell followed by a few days of rain is what did them in. One plant shows evidence of tomato hornworm activity, but I haven't been able to nab the little sucker.

Another summer squash plant succumbed to the vine borers, so now I'm down to one and it's only a matter of time before it's gone, too. The pepper plants are still short, but I did harvest a small pepper off of one, and there are a couple more peppers coming along.

In place of the squash, I planted six strawberry plants that I got on sale for 50% off. They won't produce until next summer, but hopefully getting them in the ground this summer will give them a good foundation for next spring. There are six more strawberry plants waiting to go into the raised beds once the peppers, tomatoes, and melons come out.

I also did some work in the flower beds and containers as well this week.

Iris that were liberated from the woods-- there's about 20 plants in the bucket.

The iris were planted around the deck.

I love this pony planter, but I hated having to water the marigold and violet that called it home every single day. Out with the old flowers, and in with a new succulent that doesn't require daily watering.

Strawberry plants

Daylilies, coneflowers, daisies, and rudbeckia in the front of the house.

One of the peppers

One of the larger onions

Lettuce seedlings before thinning.

Cracked tomatoes

A little bell pepper

Japanese beetles destroyed this vine and its counterpart in the rail planters. Since they looked so bad, I went ahead and pulled them out.

The petunias are still going strong!

New Flowers

While visitng my parents in Traverse City, MI, my mom and I made the drive to Honor, MI, to visit a plant nursery called Greystone Gardens. My small budget for the trip was $50, and my mom went there not expecting to buy anything. Well, thanks to the business' very reasonable prices, neither of us left emptyhanded.

My mother came away with two flats of plants, and I got four coneflowers, two daisies, and a red dwarf daylily for around $35! Not too shabby...

The new flowers include two Shasta Daisies, three Pink Pow Wow Coneflowers, a White Echinacea, and a pot of red dwarf daylilies.